France and England in North America, Part VII, Vol 1: A Half-Century of ConflictParkman, Francis
History
France and England in North America, Part VII, Vol 1: A Half-Century of Conflict
Parkman, Francis
Canada -- History -- To 1763 (New France); United States -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
"'T was ten o'clock in the morning when first the fight begun,
And fiercely did continue till the setting of the sun,
Excepting that the Indians, some hours before 't was night,
Drew off into the bushes, and ceased awhile to fight;
"But soon again returned in fierce and furious mood,
Shouting as in the morning, but yet not half so loud;
For, as we are informed, so thick and fast they fell,
Scarce twenty of their number at night did get home well.
* * * * *
"Our worthy Captain Lovewell among them there did die;
They killed Lieutenant Robbins, and wounded good young Frye,
Who was our English chaplain; he many Indians slew,
And some of them he scalped when bullets round him flew."
Frye, as mentioned in the text, had engaged himself to Susanna Rogers, a
young girl of the village of Boxford, who, after his death, wrote some
untutored verses to commemorate his fate. They are entitled, _A Mournful
Elegy on Mr. Jonathan Frye_, and begin thus:
"Assist, ye muses, help my quill,
Whilst floods of tears does down distil;
Not from mine eyes alone, but all
That hears the sad and doleful fall
Of that young student, Mr. Frye,
Who in his blooming youth did die.
Fighting for his dear country's good,
He lost his life and precious blood.
His father's only son was he;
His mother loved him tenderly;
And all that knew him loved him well;
For in bright parts he did excel
Most of his age; for he was young,--
Just entering on twenty-one;
A comely youth, and pious too;
This I affirm, for him I knew."
She then describes her lover's brave deeds, and sad but heroic death,
alone in a howling wilderness; condoles with the bereaved parents,
exhorts them to resignation, and touches modestly on her own sorrow.
In more recent times the fate of Lovewell and his companions has
inspired several poetical attempts, which need not be dwelt upon.
Lovewell's Fight, as Dr. Palfrey observes, was long as famous in New
England as Chevy Chase on the Scottish Border.
CHAPTER XII.
1712.
THE OUTAGAMIES AT DETROIT.
The West and the Fur-trade.--New York and Canada.--Indian
Population.--The Firebrands of the West.--Detroit in 1712.--Dangerous
Visitors.--Suspense.--Timely Succors.--The Outagamies attacked: their
Desperate Position.--Overtures.--Wavering Allies.--Conduct of
Dubuisson.--Escape of the Outagamies.--Pursuit and Attack.--Victory and
Carnage.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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